17-month-old Deagan Colbert plays near his father, Garland firefighter Devon Colbert, while he does therapy on a functional electrical stimulation bike at his home in Rockwall on Dec. 16, 2013. Devon Colbert suffered a serious spinal cord injury in a car accident on Dec. 17, 2012. Doctors initially told him he would be paralyzed from the neck down, and since then he has regained use of his shoulders, arms and wrists, with limited function in his hands.

ROSE BACA

Colbert does therapy while his wife, Emily, and son, Deagan, play at their home. Colbert suffered a serious spinal cord injury in a car accident on Dec. 17, 2012. Doctors initially told him he would be paralyzed from the neck down, and since then he has regained use of his shoulders, arms and wrists, with limited function in his hands.

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Garland firefighter Devon Colbert looks over at his son, Deagan, while he does therapy on a functional electrical stimulation bike at his home in Rockwall. Emily Colbert, Devon’s wife, said life since the accident has become more routine for them and their two children, 2-year-old Levi and 17-month-old Deagan. But they said that stability wouldn’t be possible without support from the community.

Photos by ROSE BACA

Colbert and his wife, Emily, share a smile with their son, Deagan, during therapy in their Rockwall home. An Austin-based website, The Chive, gave Devon a functional electrical stimulation bike and grant for therapy.

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Garland firefighter Devon Colbert and his wife Emily, pictured in their home in Rockwall on Dec. 16, 2013, hold one of the t-shirt designs the Garland Fire Fighters Association is selling to benefit the couple. Colbert suffered a serious spinal cord injury in a car accident on Dec. 17, 2012. Doctors initially told him he would be paralyzed from the neck down, and since then he has regained use of his shoulders, arms and wrists, with limited function in his hands.

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Garland firefighter Devon Colbert spends his days working to get his dream back.

Colbert, who lives in Rockwall, had been working as a firefighter for about a year when he suffered a serious spinal cord injury in a car accident on Dec. 17, 2012. Doctors initially told him he would be paralyzed from the neck down, he said.

He stayed in the hospital until April, when doctors decided he should start outpatient physical therapy. It’s a grueling routine, he said, of three to five hours of therapy each weekday at clinics and on a functional electrical stimulation bike at home.

He’s made progress. Colbert said he’s regained use of his shoulders, arms and wrists since the accident, with limited function in his hands.

And one day, he moved his toes. His wife, Emily, documented the moment in a video posted on her “Team Devon” Facebook page, facebook.com/teamdevoncolbert, which has more than 2,500 likes.

Emily Colbert said life since the accident has become more routine for them and their two children, 2-year-old Levi and 17-month-old Deagan. But they said that stability wouldn’t be possible without support from the community, whether it’s fellow firefighters lending a hand or the therapy bike that was donated.

“I couldn’t imagine going through this without the support that we have had,” Emily Colbert said.

‘Part of our family’

According to a police report, Devon Colbert was driving west on State Highway 66 in Rockwall when a 2009 Infiniti pulled out off of John King Boulevard. The driver told police he thought it was OK to go, but the car crashed into the back left side of Devon Colbert’s Toyota 4Runner, which rolled into a ditch.

The intersection had a two-way stop on John King at the time. The Texas Department of Transportation installed a four-way stoplight in early September, according to Tim Tumulty, Rockwall public works director.

Rockwall had requested that TxDOT reevaluate intersections on John King, including with Highway 66, in August 2012, said assistant city manager Mary Smith.

Devon Colbert and his son Levi, also in the 4Runner, were taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. Levi, strapped into a car seat, escaped serious injury.

Colbert said he was awake the whole time. It was a blur, he said, and he remembers being most worried about his son. He also “kept asking about my boots,” he said a fellow Garland firefighter later recounted to him.

Initially, Devon Colbert only had feeling from his upper chest up. Doctors told Emily Colbert that he’d stay that way.

“They probably thought I was nuts, but I told them no, we weren’t going to accept it,” she said.

Firefighters from Garland and Rockwall came to the hospital in support. Without them and his family at his side, Devon Colbert said the lengthy hospital stay would have been much more difficult.

Colleagues pitched in to help, including with household needs and bills. They hosted fundraisers like a January golf tournament in Crandall and a March ball at the Hilton Dallas/Rockwall Lakefront.

The Garland Fire Fighters Association also sold about 500 T-shirts in different designs to benefit the Colberts, said association president David Riggs. One design reads “No brother stands alone” on the back.

“With Devon, it touched us all because we feel like he’s part of our family, and he’s in a bad way,” said Garland Fire Chief Raymond Knight.

Finding his way back

As he recovered, Colbert said doctors at the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas decided in April it would be best for him to go home in a wheelchair.

“There’s a little bit of fear whenever you’re getting out because so much has changed, just how you’re going to adjust to everything,” Devon Colbert said.

But the family is doing well, the Colberts said, especially after a move into a different Rockwall home in July. The hardwood floors make it easier to move around in a wheelchair, Emily Colbert said, as does the spacious kitchen.

Garland firefighters also modified the home, Knight said, making doorways wider and building a ramp.

With Emily Colbert at home with the kids, the family depended on Devon Colbert’s salary. As he went through therapy, Devon Colbert had been working a few hours a week in the administration building.

But to allow him to rehab full-time, firefighters are covering his shifts so he can continue to get paid, in an arrangement Knight said the department recently worked out with Garland’s human resources department.

Riggs said Garland firefighters have raised enough money to make sure the Colberts are “cared for adequately.” The Chive, an Austin-based website, gave Devon Colbert a $24,050 grant in November for therapy, including the $16,400 bike that moves his legs and stimulates muscles.

As rehab becomes his full-time gig, Devon Colbert still visits with fellow firefighters at the station.

“He has been smiling and encouraging,” Knight said. “I’ve never seen Devon have a bad day since this happened, and no one (else) has either.”

Emily Colbert said her husband is beating the odds so far. So even if doctors can’t say he’ll regain function in his legs, she said they’re not giving up hope.

“They can’t tell us that Devon will walk again, but our faith tells us that Devon will walk again,” she said.

Rockwall/Rowlett editor Andrew Scoggin can be reached at 214-977-8730.